Ten Days
by Sealson
Summary: ..."If in ten days you still can’t do it, you don’t like her enough. But if in ten days she hasn’t ignored or rejected you, she likes you."...Just how long will it take?
1. Day Zero

I suddenly got inspired from sitting in break between lectures, hopefully people like it! ~ Sealson

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_**Ten Days**_

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"Asuma, how did you and Kurenai…" The silver haired jonin asked suddenly.

"Why do you ask?" His bearded friend replied.

"Just curious…" He trailed off as if lost in his thoughts again.

"Well, it took time. Ask her out, wherever she is; keep trying day after day. If on the first day you fail, try again tomorrow. If in ten days you still can't do it, you don't like her enough. But if in ten days she hasn't ignored or rejected you, she likes you."

"Oh…"

"Who is it anyway?" Asuma's eyes gleamed; not a wonder that Konoha's number one gossiper is his teammate or was his student.

"Thanks, ja ne!" He said lazily as he prepared for his signature exit, completely ignoring his friend's question.

"I bet it's Anko…just get her some dango and she will say yes…Baka."

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It has been years since the whole Sasuke crisis. Sasuke returned a few years ago to find that nothing have changed. Tsunade is still the Hokage, Naruto is still loud, Sakura's hair is still pink, Kakashi still reads porn in public. He wanted to rebuild his clan, but women was not a problem, love was. Bit by bit, he found out just how much this village has changed during his absence – his two biggest fan girls did not greet him in their normal 'affectionate' way, but instead they just waved and said a "Hi, Sasuke-kun!". What scared him the most was that the honorific was becoming a rarity, especially from a certain pastel-haired girl who's temper is a contrast to her soft coloured hair, not to mention the inhuman strength.

She had somehow gotten over him after throwing her whole heart out to him, expecting him to catch it and cherish it. He caught it, even if it didn't seem as if he ever held it close to him. Or did he? Was it not him who thanked her on _that_ night? Was it not him who saved her from those guys back in the chunin exams? Was it not him who saved her from the disastrous situations…say like the random ninjas back in their first C-rank mission in their genin days? These thoughts soon lulled him into a deep and peaceful sleep. He dreamt of a beautiful sakura tree, its petals swirling around it; he couldn't tell if it was loosing its beautiful pink hue to the gentle breeze or if it was simply letting go of its pride. He spotted someone under the tree fast asleep, or so it seems. Despite all his efforts, he couldn't find a way to see who that person is, and so he approached – SASUKE!

"You're going to be late again like Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun!"

"What…What are you doing here?" His eyes shockingly wide as his vision focused on the strawberry blonde currently sitting on him with an innocent face.

"Making sure you get to training on time, what else? Now get up!" She pouted as she hopped off him, disappearing out of his window.

This was not the first time Sakura had woken him up like that. She has taken most of the responsibilities that he'd list on a sister or mother list…or if he dares to say it, on a wife list. He shook his head and headed towards his bathroom and re-emerged back in his room in five minutes as he jumped out of his room through his window.

As he hurried through the small meadow, he picked up a small daisy. He saw her standing alone on the bridge, and realised that he was half an hour early. He calmly headed towards her with a small smile. As he approached, he could see that the young kunoichi's eye twitch once, a small blush played on her cheeks as she returned the smile.

'Why is he smiling at me like that? This is so awkward, Sasuke smiling?!' Sakura thought with a panic. Her eyes darted everywhere but never stopped to look at the raven haired boy in front of her. She quickly reached into her pouch to find a distraction. To her disappointment, she found a small blue novel that she confiscated off her jonin partner the other day. She mentally grumbled as she flipped open the book, pretending to be ever so interested in the little squiggles. She noticed how Sasuke's eyes twitch when he glanced at the bold title – Icha Icha Tactics.

'**Haha! He looks so stunned and cute!' Inner Sakura screeched.**

'Kakashi's expression was cuter.' The outer assured the inner. It was the truth. His expression when the medic jonin snatched away his novel from his calloused hands was a mixture between shock and disappointment with a small tinge of amusement.

"Mmm…so that's what Junko did…" A familiar voice found its way to her ears as she read intensely from page one. "You could've just asked me to lend it to you if you wanted to read…mind you, you should start with Icha Icha Paradisu first…" It continued.

"Sure, lend them all to me…Sensei…" She spoke as her eyes continued to scan the literature before her; who knew Jiraiya could write so well.

"You don't plan to burn them do you?" His voice was mellow and laid back, she could feel him behind her reading along as she did. Sasuke on the other hand crushed the fragile little flower in his pocket, feeling mildly left out. He approached the two jonin and tried to peer over his former sensei's shoulder, only to receive a small hand slapping across his eyes, covering them.

"One Kakashi-sensei is enough." She stated, followed by a small giggle as Kakashi poked her shoulder to tell her to turn the page.

Hours later, the two finished reading a few more chapters and Sasuke had declared that he will go 'train' since Sakura was nice enough to wake him up and make him get to training on time. Stomping off he saw a flash of yellow and orange whiz past him – Konoha's number one loudmouthed knucklehead ninja…no more…maybe just a little bit.

"Kaka-sensei! Do you have it? Please say you do! I've been waiting for so long!" He literally screamed across the bridge as he approached it.

Much to Kakashi's disappointment, Sakura snapped shut the book she was holding. It will be a long while before he finally finds out what is Junko's big ultimate secret. With a sigh, he stood up and offered his partner a hand up. By the time the two have straightened themselves up, Naruto was already in front of them jumping from foot to foot. Sasuke had turned round and joined the team again.

"Oh yea…Here it is…" He handed the boys a few sheets of paper. "It's at noon today, don't be late!"

"HEH!? Why isn't Sakura coming with us?" Naruto screamed as he saw that he and Sasuke were the only ones with the papers for the coming chunin exam.

"Oh, she recently passed her jonin exam and is now my partner in my missions." Their former sensei laid the words out, lacing them with innocence as his single visible eye creased up.

"NANI!" The two boys' jaws fell to the floor as they stared at Sakura in her jonin uniform. All this time they thought that she borrowed them off Kakashi as the two have become good friends over the years.

"Well, if only you stayed in the village instead of running off…" The pink haired girl giggled. "And it's rude to stare." She continued as she held out her forefinger and poked Sasuke's forehead protector. He flinched. He knew what that innocent finger could do…bring trees down, crush the earth beneath him, bring down an entire mountain and make it into little bits of rock, all with a single flick.

"If you're late, please don't use any of my excuses." Kakashi's eye creased up again as he spoke, shoving the boys on their way towards the exam venue. Sakura said something about "Good luck!" in the background.

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	2. Day Zero 2

Here it is, the second chapter...enjoy and thank you for reading!

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Day Zero

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Sakura rushed towards the chuunin exam venue a couple of hours after her teammates set off to take their exams. By the time she got there, she saw her two boys sitting on a rock not facing each other - an obvious sign that they must have been bickering. Her former sensei squatted in between the two, shrugging as his eye curved up to a smile. He honestly cannot understand why his two former students cannot live a day without bickering about small things. But today was different.

"Ha! She gave me luck first!"

"Dobe, you wish. She loves me, she admitted that openly!"

"Yea, after you left, she found someone else!" His eyebrows raised a bit when he said the last two words, and so the bickering continued until their female teammate cleared her throat.

"Well…?" She questioned, knowing that it is near impossible for her teammates to not pass.

"Of course we passed, Sakura-chan. Why don't you come out and eat ramen with me tonight as a celebration." The blond babbled.

"Not in a million years, dobe." The Uchiha spat as he spoke. "Why don't you come over for dinner with me Sakura, since you woke me up this morning." He smirked as he spoke.

A loud sigh can be heard between the two boys. The two boys turned around to see their former sensei with a bored expression on his face. He raised his hand and scratched the back of his head gently.

"I don't think Sakura would be able to make it to either of your dates. You see, she's kinda busy…" He trailed off as he examined the suddenly interesting speck of dust on his fingernails.

"Oh yea, sensei, I need to get all those books off you." She brightened up and pulled her jonin partner away from the two boys, disappearing towards some vague direction. A small screech of 'there aren't any black cats this way' could be heard minutes after the two left, leaving the two boys on the rock as their stomachs grumbled for food.

Sakura did not understand what was going on. It seems that Sasuke was attempting to ask her out on a date. Now that she put her mind to it, it all kind of made sense – the smiling, the dinner invitation. But it was not the sudden 'kindness' her teammate showed her this morning that made her feel uneasy, it was the fact that she made it clear to herself years ago that he is not the one for her and she find herself enjoying the moments of their roller coaster friendship than the more intimate form. 'But why is it so hard to just tell him no?' she thought to herself. 'That's it, it's not that hard, I'll say no next time and go read with Kakashi-sensei!' she convinced herself. Had it not been Kakashi, she would never have become the jonin she is today. Had it not been Kakashi, she would never understand that there is more to the world than just an infatuation with an ice cube. Had it not been Kakashi, she would not be reading porn in public this morning. She shook her head and continued reading on the couch.

"Shouldn't you be thinking about dinner soon?" A masculine voice made its way to her ears, briefly distracting her from the literature before her.

"Oh, yea, um…I'll…uh…I'll go home and fix up something…soon." She repositioned herself on the couch after two hours of sitting in more or less the same position.

"You know, Sakura, you are more than welcome to take the book home and read it…if you promise not to burn it. My home is not a library…" He chuckled as he sat next to her, flipping open one of his books and mumbled out the literature like poetry. His voice was smooth and relaxed. Sakura couldn't help but put down the blue little book she was holding and leaned closer to her former sensei to read his orange book and listen to the words flowing out of his mouth like music.

He noticed that she leaned onto his side as he read his little orange book out loud. He was not used to reading to an audience, but he did not care – a copy-nin, a shinobi with more than a thousand jutsus, and on top of that, he is an elite shinobi, how can he be shy when reading in front of an auidience. So he continued. He did not notice the two familiar chakra signatures approaching his location. Even if he did, he wouldn't care much; as if someone would drop by to visit him and ask him how he was.

"AHA! I thought you'd be here, Sakura…" A hyperactive blond bounced into the apartment to find his two jonin teammates sitting rather intimately on a cozy couch reading the forsaken literature, "-chan…"

Naruto was about to make a run for it before he gets multiple broken bones and fractures, but he crashed into Sasuke as he wandered into the apartment.

"Dobe, watch where you're going."

"Teme!" He turned around and his eyes gleamed. "Can't you see you're interrupting Sakura's _date_?" Emphasising the last word; if he was going to get killed, he might as well make the most of now.

The word had a good effect on Sasuke. Instead of his usual single syllable 'hn' response, his eyes were wide open, his jaw fell a few inches, his head hung in front of him comically, before he blurted out something that sent shivers down Sakura's spine.

"Weren't you coming to a date with me? I thought you wanted one since you were a genin!"

To that, Sakura rose instantly, pocketing the little blue book she was reading, and walked towards the Uchiha prodigy.

"Come with me." She whispered in his ear not a tinge of blush rose to her cheeks; she hid her expression well after all that training with the infamous Hatake Kakashi. Sasuke followed without any thoughts on why the emotion on her face was so hard to read.

Just when Sasuke walked out of the building facing a quiet street, he felt intense pain from the side of his head and somehow he felt that he was flying before crashing down onto the ground again. Before he could even register what had hit him or what was happening, he looked up to see Sakura towering over him, her eyes burning with fire.

"I won't go on a date with you! You…you…you! GAH!" She screamed as she stamped the ground below her feet sending shockwaves up the Uchiha's back; not a wonder why she is still single, not a single guy would dare to ask her out. With that, she stormed away towards her apartment.

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	3. Day Zero 3

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Day Zero

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Kakashi watched from a distance as his former student crushed the earth beneath her feet whilst his other former student scrambled away from the ferocious kunoichi. He remembers how the young kunoichi would give anything just to go on a date with the Uchiha. It seems that things really have changed, but is it for the better? His thoughts then drifted to the broken Sakura when Sasuke left; she would weep over the Team 7 photograph at night and train harder everyday, day by day she would improve and become more emotionless. Then one day he watched her walk towards his normal 'hang out' place where she broke down and swore that she will never give up and will become even stronger than Ino only to whimper when he appeared in front of her with his usual smile offering her a hand to help her up.

After that incident, he spent more time training with her and teaching her more about genjutsu seeing that she is a genjutsu based kunoichi instead of ninjutsu or taijutsu like the boys. She had good talent and potential that was kept locked away. His training was the key that unlocked that locked away treasure. She improved exponentially and bounced from genin to chuunin and finally jonin in the two and a half years of absence of the boys. He was truly proud of her.

It was not only training that brought the two together a few times a week. The two would meet up for some lunch, dinner or a small picnic at nostalgic places. He would read his books while she did some light training on her own, although light would not be the word that our silver-haired protagonist would describe her training – knocking down trees and smashing boulders with a feather light touch is not something he would call light. They would then spend their afternoon under a large Sakura tree somewhere enjoying an ice-lolly and each other's company.

Their friendship schedule was suddenly changed when two familiar figures reappeared in the village – a blond and an ebony, the comical pair. They were spotted from far away due to the loud protests of "I'm not a dobe!" or "Sasuke-teme!". The two jonins' eyes were wide of shock at first, but then they sighed and leapt off to meet their old teammates.

It was a good three months before he finally got used to the renewed Team 7 schedule – he had to practice to be exactly two hours late rather than the usual one hour with Sakura only. Kakashi sighed and shook his head again, bringing himself back to the present. He couldn't help but chuckle at how his team changed so dramatically; his 'weakest' student has become the strongest of all. 'Ten days, ten days…' those two words repeated themselves in his head as if Asuma had said them yesterday. He truly missed his friend who used to pair him up with some blind date only to find that by the time Kakashi turns up, the 'date' had left already. Shaking his head again, he decided he should go sleep. There is no way that he could do it without being hit in the face and sitting in hospital for a week.

The next morning, he woke up to the sound of something padding around in his living room. He slipped a kunai into his hand as he silently crept towards the source of the sound. He spotted that his collection was in a small mess in the corner. Moreover, he did not remember that he went fishing for another book last night. He spotted that there was someone on his couch…with pink hair.

"Did I wake you up?" She chirped.

"You can be my new alarm clock." He replied quietly. "What are you doing here so early anyway?"

"Oh, well, I…uh…I finished reading…so…I…uh…wanted another book…" She was definitely nervous and didn't want to reveal the fact that she was indeed addicted to the Jiraiya's literature.

"Says the girl who denied ever liking those books…" Kakashi muttered with amusement in his voice, only to receive a small flick on his forehead. "Well, since you are here, would you like some breakfast?"

Before she can even nod, she was carried and seated firmly at Kakashi's dining table with a plate of bread in front of her. She muttered her thanks and devoured the piece of bread.

"So…Sakura…I hear that Sasuke asked you on a date that you refused…" Kakashi, being an elite shinobi sometimes has the worst conversation starters ever. This was one of them as the pastel-haired kunoichi's hands turned into fists. "Wait wait wait, I'm not here to gossip for the juicy details…I just was wondering why you didn't go."

"Because I don't like him that way." She spoke icily, waving her hand dismissively.

"Then who would you go on a date with?" He was interested.

"Someone who is not Sasuke…"

"Naruto?"

"No way! He's meant to be for Hinata. He's just too thick to notice."

"Shikamaru!"

"Too troublesome."

"Shino?"

"Creepy!"

"Lee?"

"Kakashi-sensei, do you have a deathwish?"

"No, Kiba?"

The two continued until Kakashi listed all the boys in Rookie 9 and Team Gai. By then, Sakura realised that she could not find what she 'wanted' in any of the boys Kakashi mentioned. It was as if something was missing in all of them, but she could not think of what they lacked.

The day went by fairly quickly with training and a quick mission with the boys. Once again, they stood at their usual training ground after their quick mission. Once again, Naruto would use his usual line of "Come eat ramen with me, Sakura!". Sakura's eye twitched when he used his usual line.

"Why don't you ask Hinata? I hear that she loves ramen too." Sakura gave Naruto a gentle nudge towards Hinata's home.

Once Naruto was out of the scene, leaving Kakashi and Sasuke standing in the background, Sasuke started walking towards Sakura. He was ready to try his luck again; Tsunade did do a great job patching up his bruised face and body last night.

"Sakura, are you free this evening?" He started smoothly.

"No, I'm not. Kakashi and I are going to the Icha Icha convention." She stated plainly as she pulled out two tickets from her jonin vest and waved them in front of Kakashi.

"How did you get those? By the time I got there, they were all sold out!" Kakashi was in shock. His day could not get any better; he has been sulking for a whole week since the Icha Icha convention posters have been up because he couldn't get the tickets.

"Lets just say that there is an advantage of being early, Kakashi-sensei." She reached up and ruffled his hair like he used to do to her. Sasuke felt like a third wheel by now. He was about to walk away, but a sweet voice called him back.

"Sasuke-kun, I'll have dinner with you another day, when it is not listed as a 'date'." With that, the two jonin were gone in a puff of smoke.

A little piece of scrap paper appeared where Kakashi was standing. He reached for it and unfolded it to reveal an Icha Icha convention poster – venue…starting time: 19:00. His eyes widened. It is barely five in the afternoon right now. He hopped his way back into town in time to catch the two jonin wandering down the streets side by side with a small distance between them, small enough to make the Uchiha jealous.

He watched in the shadows as the two walked into the dango place and shared a stick of dango. The raven-haired boy was boiling with jealousy by now, no one has ever said 'no' to a date with him…if he had ever asked them in the first place…until now. What exactly is wrong with him? Did he have something on his face that kept the girls at bay? He quickly passed by a mirror to check if he is still as handsome as all those years ago.

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	4. Day Zero 4

Just want to thank everyone for all the reviews, adds and all. Thank you! ~Sealson

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Day Zero

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"Mmm…this place makes the best dango!" Sakura exclaimed as she claims the last dango on the stick. Kakashi's visible eye creased up again as he watched her eat the last dango.

"You know we can get more if you want more." He suggested. But Sakura knew exactly what he was on about.

"No way." She simply replied. Kakashi's face transformed from relaxed happy into dumbfound confused. "The last time you ordered extra helpings you disappeared when the bill came up." She continued.

"I won't do it this time…it's on my tab since you got us tickets." He assured her as a small sweat drop slid behind his head and hung there comically.

Not far from the two, Sasuke's henge sat and watched as they ordered another helping of dango and munched them down happily. There was still an hour before the convention when the two paid the bill and left the dango house. Surprisingly, Kakashi kept his promise and did not disappear when the bill was politely slid onto the table. He merely cocked his visible brow at the total and scratched the back of his head before reaching for his wallet. Before he could even put down the money, his companion had already put down half the total.

"I did eat quite a lot of dango this time." She defended as he tried to persuade her that he would pay this time.

Eventually the two wandered off to their usual sakura tree for their afternoon literature, where time flew by quickly as the two set off again soon to the venue of the Icha Icha convention. Sakura made sure Kakashi was on time for the 'thing of his life'. She knew just how much Kakashi wished to attend an Icha Icha convention, just that he would always be away on missions when they were on…not to mention he could never get the tickets due to his tardiness.

When the two arrived at the convention, Jiraiya was already there ready to sign autographs or take pictures with his loyal fans. He spotted the two familiar faces and beckoned them over.

"Ah…so you've enlightened the young cherry blossom, eh Kakashi?" The sanin grinned as he waved eagerly at the two.

"Of course!" The silver-haired man's eye curved up again, earning a small jab from the girl beside him.

"Hmph, I'm only here because you wanted tickets and I don't want to go on a date with either of the boys." She defended, but both men can see through her defense.

"Well, Sakura, this is my newest edition of Icha Icha. That's what this convention is about, my newest edition. I'm sure you'll love it!" He somehow mastered a pose similar to Maito Gai's. The two jonin shuddered at the pose but regained their usual posture when Jiraiya finished posing.

"Here, two special copies for you two. Specially signed for you two!" He tossed them two wrapped books.

The silver-haired jonin immediately opened the wrapping with utmost care and flipping the book open. His eye gleamed and widened as he squealed of excitement, his visible eye tracing each and every word. The bubblegum-haired jonin opened the wrapping with less care than her partner, but a small squeal escaped her lips as she stood beside her companion, reading through lines of beautiful literature.

In the shadows, a lean figure crouched, watching the movements of the two standing jonin absorbed in the book before their eyes. His onyx eyes blended well with his environment as he hid himself behind a small stand offering refreshments. He watched as the two jonin who were completely oblivious to his presence move towards the soft couches near the refreshment stand and continued reading. Their arrangement on the couch reminded Sasuke of when he and Naruto burst into Kakashi's apartment last night. His jealousy level rose again. He doesn't remember looking not as handsome as he used to when he last checked in the mirror, but why isn't Sakura looking at him the same way as she did back in the genin days? Could Naruto be right for once? Did Sakura find someone else? Sasuke chuckled evilly to himself as he came up with a plan to find that 'someone else' and eliminate them.

"Sasuke, only people with an interest in Icha Icha or have a ticket can have free refreshments." A smooth voice called at him from behind. He spun around to find his two teammates looking at him from their books that covered half their faces.

"I was just passing by. I didn't know it is Icha Icha related. I'll be going. Bye." He breathed out the words as he ran out of sight. As he turned round the corner, he saw how his former sensei put his arm around Sakura's shoulder, ushering her back towards 'their couch'. He cursed in his head for not noticing it. Of course, Kakashi _is_ Sakura's 'someone else'. The two were secretly dating using excuses to keep everyone else at bay about their secret relationship, which everyone would tend to frown upon.

Hours later, the convention ended with a trailer of the coming soon Icha Icha Tactic Movie and a round of photo taking with the genius author, Jiraiya. The two made their way towards their homes as they exited the convention venue.

"Hmm…it's late, maybe you want dinner." Kakashi stated the obvious.

"Come over to mine, I can fix us something." Sakura offered seeing that he offered her dinner last night and breakfast this morning. She led him back to her apartment.

Little did Sakura know, the village's number one loudmouthed ninja was already at her doorstep. He spun around and pointed at the two jonin sharply and shouted on top of his lungs.

"WAH! Sakura-chan, you went on a date with Kakashi-sensei instead of with Sasuke-teme or me?"

"It wasn't a date, Naruto. We went to a convention." Sakura's eye twitched a bit as her ears recovered from the loud blast. His 'father' may be known as Konoha's Yellow Flash, but he is nowhere near it; in fact he can be Konoha's Yellow Fanatic.

Sensing Naruto's confusion, Kakashi beckoned his former student towards him as he explained what a convention is, flashing his prized special Icha Icha edition at one point. He continued after noticing how large Naruto's eyes became when he saw the book, explaining that there is nothing between him and Sakura and that they are just close friends.

"Didn't you go eat ramen with Hinata, Naruto?" Sakura asked with a hint of interest in her voice. She pitied the pearl-eyed girl, how all her efforts never seem to sink through that thick skull of her blond teammate.

"Eh? She fainted after I asked her." Naruto huffed.

"Maybe she wants ramen for dinner, I heard she really really likes beef ramen! Why don't you go ask her again?" To that, the blonde's eyes widened and gleamed with delight as he ran off shouting his thanks.

Kakashi sighed as he followed Sakura into her small apartment, flipping open his book again as he settled onto her sofa as she busied herself in the kitchen to make some form of dinner. He noticed that they have been spending quite a lot of time together lately, unusual as he was usually 'lost on the path of life' during the months since Team 7 was revived. 'Ten days…' Asuma repeated himself in his head again. If only Asuma is not off to some long-term mission, then maybe he'll be skiving blind dates. But spending time with Sakura isn't bad, especially when she has similar taste in literature. Smiling beneath his mask, he made his way towards the kitchen.

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	5. Day Zero 5

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Day Zero

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Sakura woke up from the sound of someone tapping on her window. She sat up and looked out to see a dark figure with hair that gleamed with morning light, so brightly that she probably needed sunglasses. It took her a while to register who it was.

"It's rude to stare." He stated as she let him into her room.

"I have a front door for a reason." She retorted.

"There was a black cat sitting in front of it." Kakashi and his excuses, he never seems to run out of them.

"Well, since you are here…and early, do you want some breakfast?"

To that, Kakashi immediately raised the bag he was carrying and creased his visible eye, wandering into her kitchen and setting it down onto the little table in her kitchen. He waited until she came out of her bathroom and opened the bag revealing some bread, butter and a carton of milk. The two ate in silence, exchanging 'secret glances' every now and then. Once they were finished, they brushed off the small bits of crumbs into a bin and tidied up slightly. She led him into the living room where her copy of Icha Icha laid.

"Actually I came to talk about something important…" His eye trailed of to some imaginary speck of dust floating around in midair as he spoke.

"Well?" Sakura urged him to continue.

"To put it plainly, it's about us." He thought of the correct words to say as he continued. "Sasuke obviously thinks that we're…_together_, and he's been stalking us. You know that if he speaks loudly about it, we might get death glares from everyone in town?"

"I know, but can their glares _really_ kill us? Come on, Kakashi, we're shinobi, we're jonin, and we're both single." Sakura has a determination of a bull; a small evil gleam in her eyes did not go by unnoticed by her jonin partner.

"What do you suggest we do?" Kakashi asked after noting that evil gleam in her eyes.

"Let him be. He will realise sooner or later, that I don't love him and how I felt all those years ago."

It was fast approaching the Team 7 usual meet up time. Sakura dragged her former sensei out the door and sent him in the direction of the path of life where he could repeatedly be lost upon, whilst hurrying towards the bridge upon which Team 7 would meet up for the training. As she approached the bridge, she noticed Sasuke was already there leaning on the railing pretending to be interested in the water below.

Sasuke watched from the corner of his eye as his pink-haired teammate approached. He felt a bit uneasy when he recalled that fateful night that taught him about what everyone meant when they said that Sakura has inhuman strength. But he loves her, and that is why he will marry her and have lots of children…or so that's what his brain has been telling him all the time, which is now telling him to ask her out on another date. Before he could open his mouth, the girl before him pulled out a book and began flipping through the pages dreamily.

"Would you like to come watch a movie with me tonight? I bought the last two tickets the other day. You see, I haven't exactly gotten to know you better ever since I got back, and I really want to get to know you better. So what do you say?" The words rolled out of his mouth like barrels rolling down a steep hill.

"Hm? I'm sorry, you said something?" Sakura imitated the infamous line normally spoken by Kakashi to Gai perfectly, as she looked up from her book.

**'Score!'** Inner Sakura punched the inner air.

'Steady now.' Outer patted inner on the head as Sasuke's eye twitched with annoyance.

'How dare she quote Kakashi so lightly on me!' He fumed in his mind. 'Plan B!'

"You know, Sakura, you and Kakashi aren't very subtle." He started, a smirk finding its way onto his handsome face.

"Oh, care to explain? But keep it short, I just reached a good part." Sakura urged him to continue.

"Lets just say that teacher and student relationships aren't very popular."

"Are you jealous, Sasuke?" There, the honorific just got dropped away as if pushed over a steep cliff, gone forever.

"Why would you think that? I am merely thinking about your well-being. You deserve much more than a guy who's never on time and reads porn in public…and he's even old enough to be your children's grandparent." His voice was a bare whisper, slicing through the morning air.

"You know, Sakura is currently reading porn too?" A voice whispered back behind the ebony-haired boy, silver clashes with raven. "It's a Friday, she won't be able to make it to your _date_."

"What date? It's a friendly watch-a-movie gathering." Sasuke's defense was crumbling into dust.

"Date or not a date, Sakura's evening is booked by me already. We're off to try the new dango menu." His visible eye showed his smile again. Sakura blushed in the background as her former sensei just defended her 'honour'.

The two males engaged in a death stare competition, while the female giggled and watched. They staring competition went on until the silence was shattered by the usual shout of "Good morning!" from a certain blond.

Training was as usual; sparring followed by teamed sparring and so on and so forth. If Kakashi were feeling evil, he would even throw in the tree climbing exercise, which was exactly what he did. He watched as his only jonin former student walked up the tree with ease while the boys still needed a short run up and falling back down halfway through.

Lunch approached and the team sat under a large tree devouring their lunch. Sasuke approached Kakashi and sat down beside him.

"You know, you can't make it any more obvious back then this morning. You and Sakura are obviously dating."

"Are you blackmailing me, Sasuke?" Kakashi's voice was ever so innocent with a good dose of laziness.

"No, I'm just saying that you two are not suited for each other. Look at you, you're so much _older_ than Sakura. Do you think it is fair for her?"

"Is that what you're getting at? Putting me in some midlife crisis?" Kakashi was slowly loosing his cool; he would never allow anyone to make reference to his hair and judge his age like that. "At least Sakura doesn't tell me that I'm old because my hair looks nicer than yours. I would go on a _date_ with you, but I'm too old for you, Sasuke." With that, he stood up and walked towards Sakura and read over her shoulder, occasionally making awkward comments that made her blush and giggle.

Later on after the training, the two jonin walked off to the dango shop side by side, occasionally bumping into each other. From afar, anyone can mistake them as a couple on a date, but would never make such a mistake if they looked closely – two jonin with their noses buried deep into their prized novels walking down a street is very likely to bump into each other occasionally even if they walked side by side. When they reached the dango shop, they pocketed their novels and sat down focusing on the new menu.

"Sakura, am I old?" Judging by his voice, he sounded rather depressed.

"Of course not, Kakashi-sensei. You are as young as you feel, in fact I can almost say that you look as young as Naruto!" Kakashi's face fell from depressed into disappointed. He hoped that she would say something more reassuring than compare him with Naruto.

"Hmm, so if I were to quote Sasuke on this…would you like to watch a movie with me tonight?"

"You're asking me on a date?" She nearly choked on her dango.

"No no, just that I have two tickets and only one of me…and it's boring watching it with a shadow clone."

"Sure." She replied, whilst imagining one Kakashi and a Kakashi clone sitting side by side in the cinema, laughing at the same joke.

"AHA! You just asked Sakura-chan on a date, and Sakura-chan, you just accepted Kakashi-sensei's date request!" A sudden blur of yellow and orange appeared out of nowhere with a slightly less enthusiastic Uchiha in tow.

"Naruto, it's not a date. A date is when people do more intimate things than just sit and eat popcorn in a cinema. It's more like what you and Hinata do more or less every night." Kakashi calmly explained, causing the blond to blush. Sakura was relieved to find out that Hinata's efforts have finally sunk through the blonde's amazingly thick skull.

"Hn, I was just passing by." The Uchiha spoke with little interest but his eyes betrayed him as he eyed the delicious dango on the table. His hand automatically floated towards it. Ten inches, five inches, four inches, two inches, SLAP.

"Ne, Sasuke, if you want dango, order your own. This dango is Kakashi's. Eat up, Kakashi, before someone eats it." Sakura's eyes narrowed. Sasuke's jaw dropped slightly when he registered the fact that Sakura dropped the honorific on their former sensei, jealousy was boiling so hard that he might just explode in the dango shop.

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	6. Day Zero 6

**Hey hey!!! It's me again...Apologies for the late/slow updates. I ran out of ideas of what to write and my life was pretty hectic back then. But here it is, chapter 6. Hope you like it!**

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Day Zero

Over the next few days, Naruto has continuously declared that he is going off to ramen as soon as training is over; Sasuke still lurked in the shadows of his teammates occasionally popping the equivalent question of "Will you go on a date with me, Sakura?" and getting a Kakashi excuse in return. By now rumours here and there have began to pop up regarding the degree of 'professionalism' between the two jonin, apparently the two of them are having a secret affair with some shady details; Sakura pondered about the source of this rumour and decided that it's time that she get herself a date. She cared about her former sensei more than a lot of things, especially his reputation.

When Sakura put her brilliant brain to work, she realise how true some of the rumours were. Two days ago, she could be found in Kakashi's apartment making dinner followed by a walk in the moonlit streets of Konoha; a day ago, she could be found napping in his arms under their usual large Sakura tree in somewhere; a few hours ago, she could be found holding hands with him as they rushed down the busy streets of Konoha trying to get to the Icha Icha poster sale or whatever it turned out to be. 'But it's just a bunch of good for nothing rumours.' Sakura thought to herself as she flicked off some dust from her tabletop. 'Spending time with Kakashi-sensei's not bad, better than Sasuke and his creepy smiles and all…'

With that second thought, a small light bulb flashed on top of her head, an idea popped into her head. She looked at the small clock on her wall, which read six something. 'Perfect' she thought, as she jumped out her window towards a familiar residence.

Sasuke was just about to open another pot of ramen for dinner when he heard a small tap on his door. He was also just about to walk towards the door when he spotted a flurry of pink and red float into his living room from his large window.

"Hi." He greeted her with little expression let alone enthusiasm.

"Hm…just checking what you could be having for dinner. I heard that you've only been eating pot ramen lately. It's not healthy you know." She chanted as she brought a basket of fresh fruits and vegetable in front of her presenting it to her emotionless teammate.

"Thanks." He muttered, "Didn't know you care."

"Of course I do, you're my teammate just like Naruto and Kakashi-sensei."

"So…uh…it's approaching seven…why don't you stay for dinner…"

"Sure…I'll make you something that's not ramen." She brightened up as she walked into his kitchen. She was beginning to enjoy the friendly feel between them.

After eating dinner, Sasuke led Sakura into his living room. By now he was feeling rather guilty about the 'sabotage' he did earlier. He liked how Sakura said that she cared about him just like everyone else around her, even if she just mentioned the team. He also like the dinner she made him and how she is now in his living room saying something that he is not paying attention to…maybe he really should.

"Are you even listening, Sasuke?" There goes the twitching of the eye.

"Yes…no…I'm sorry, can you repeat it?"

"I said, I'm not dating Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke. So you should stop being so mean to him."

"Did he send you over to retrieve his book?"

"No, but I found it already." She giggled as she pulled out the small book that he spent ages trying to hide in his living room.

"How?" Was all he could say.

"Lets just say that I know you too well." She stifled another giggle.

"I…I don't know you at all…when I come to think of it…" Sasuke's mood suddenly swung from mutual into depressed.

"Mmm…why don't we start from the basics then?"

Over the next few hours Sakura told Sasuke about herself; her favorite food, colour, ramen flavour, her likes, her dislikes, more or less everything. Sasuke was amazed to find that Sakura was so…complicated. All these years, he imagined her to be a simple fan girl who had nothing better to do than swoon over him. But she has made it clear to him that she is no longer a pathetic little fan girl. He felt somewhat guilty checking on her and forcefully persuading her to go on 'dates' with him. He felt that he is almost unworthy to be her teammate, let alone friend.

"You know, Sasuke-kun, you make a much better brother than boyfriend." She teased him as she poked his forehead, bringing him back out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry I was being so forceful." His voice was full of regret. How many times does he have to battle with regret before he can rejoice?

"Don't be angry at yourself. You will find _love_ one day and you will be happy!"

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	7. Day Zero 7

**Since I was so slow on updating, I have decided I should make another chapter and upload it here to make up for the slowness. Hope you like it!**

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Day Zero

The few days after the 're-introduction' things seem to have gotten better. For starters, Sakura no longer receives invites to go on dates with a certain someone. On the down side, there is the big shinobi party coming up soon, where she will be going without a date like all those times she attended those. Kami knows why she went to those functions so many times knowing that she won't be going with a date. Her distracted mind brought her to a familiar surrounding. It vaguely smelt of toast and breakfast. She followed the smell knowing exactly where it will lead her.

"Is my cooking really that good?" the silver-haired man greeted her as he spotted her sitting at his small kitchen table without the book that she has been reading since kami knows when. He placed a portion of breakfast in front of her and watch it disappear within seconds.

"Something you want to talk about?" It is almost impossible to fool the eye of the sensei who watched her grow into the woman she is now.

"Well, just wondering if you're free tomorrow night…" She tried to cover up the fact that she was determined to go with a 'date' to that party this time, a date who does not smell like a dog, have no sense of humour or have shrubs as eyebrows.

"I am." His replies were always short and concise. "Do you have something planned for me?" It sounded awkward and was even more awkward as he imagined Sakura having gone through the trouble to try and chain him to a hospital bed.

"Well, I was wondering, eheh, if you would…nevermind…" She decided it was best not to inquire if Kakashi was going to the ball alone seeing that he seems to have a flock of women around him at those functions, not to mention that the zoned out look on his face was very strange.

"You were wondering if I would…?" Kakashi urged her to finish her question. Deep down he knew exactly what she wanted to ask. He was hoping she'd ask him so he won't be flocked by women…again. But judging by the looks of it, the question won't be popped anytime soon and there isn't much time left before the party.

"Well, if this is about the shinobi party, I'll go with you…on one condition…" He spoke lazily as he studied the interesting layout of his home; who knew coffee tables made out of wood looked so good with a bit of polishing.

Time passed by quite quickly after that morning and it was slowly approaching the time of the shinobi party. Sakura had found herself a nice outfit – a flowing black dress. She wasn't sure if Kakashi would prefer her being her normal self or with a bit of make-up. She wasn't a fan of make up afterall. In the midst of her make-up crisis, she did not notice a familiar figure appear behind her and his strong arms wrapped around her waist innocently.

"You look fine the way you are." His usual lazy voice assured her that there is no need for make-up. He was aware of how awkward they would look if someone were to walk into the room they were standing in, but he couldn't care less. He _is_ her date for this party anyway.

"You're early for once. You're always at least an hour late, what happened to the _real_ Kakashi." She joked as she smoothed out his hair gently with her hand.

At the bar, nearly all the shinobi in town have gathered, minus a few who were away on missions. The duo walked through the entrance and joined their friends for a drink, unaware of the strange glances everyone else were casting on them.

"So, what is this one condition, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm, I haven't thought of that yet, but maybe I'll just say the one condition will be that I can expand this one condition into multiple conditions." He scratched his head as he spoke. True he did say there was a condition, but he wanted to go to this party with a 'date' just as much as Sakura wanted and it seemed unfair on her that he will put out a condition just for that, but he might as well take advantage of this and expand that one condition.

"That's not fair!" She turned her head slightly to show her annoyance at her sly date.

"Well then for starters, you're going to stop calling me sensei. We are partners, not teacher and student." His face looked thoughtful, if only that mask was not there; but his only visible eye showed his emotions well enough.

"Fine then, Kakashi-senpai." That struck like lightning. Kakashi merely tensed at that.

"Sakura…" His head dropped slightly, indicating the general position of a mildly disappointed or depressed man.

"Hai, senpai?"

"No senpai please. You make me feel older than I should feel." To that, she giggled and gently ruffled his hair.

"Condition two: Dance with me." His eye creased up as he pulled her towards the dance floor before she could complain.

The soft mellow music played in the background, while couples moved to the beat. It was a peaceful scene that could cause only one person to revolt. Sasuke sat a little away from the dance floor and saw how his teammates move to the beat. Inside, he wished that he could be the one dancing beside his female teammate and that he was the one who she was on a 'date' with. He saw how she smiled as she rested her head on Kakashi's shoulder and how Kakashi did the same; their bodies so close that they were touching, his arms wrapped around her and hers innocently wrapped around him. Sasuke turned his head and focused on the table of single male – Kiba, Lee, Shino, Chouji…even Shikamaru got off his bum and went with the troublesome Ino. The other boys didn't seem too troubled by the fact that they were single. Kiba was happy with his partner, Akamaru, Lee was still enjoying his youth, Shino wasn't so keen on anything anyway, Chouji had barbeque pork and crisps. Sasuke was surprised that even his rival ice cube Hyuuga Neji has settled down with the weapons mistress Tenten. He picked at the snacks on the table and joined in the current conversation, which happened to be on about the latest crisps flavour that Chouji has stocked up on.

Not far away, Tsunade and Shizune were watching the crowd and noticed the odd pair in the middle of the dance floor.

"Well that's something new." Tsunade commented as she downed a bit more sake.

"I've been wondering how long it will take before they get together. Sakura's always rushing off after her shifts saying something about him." The other joined in.

"I bet that –" Before she could continue her sentence, Shizune cut in.

"Don't you bet on this. Every time you bet you lose." Tsunade grumbled and drank more sake.

As the party drew to an end, the two jonin made the way back home. As they walked down the deserted moonlit streets of Konoha Sakura thought to herself how many 'conditions' Kakashi went through tonight – no sensei, dance with him, no senpai, no taichou. She was lost in her thoughts when she felt a jacket covered her bare shoulders. She turned to see that her partner had taken off his jacket and placed it on her. His arm now crawled around her back and rested around her waist, gently pulling her slightly closer towards him. She welcomed the pull and the warmth as she thanked him. When they reached her apartment door, he waited until she found her keys and opened the door.

"Won't you come in for some tea, Kakashi?" she offered, but it was obvious that she was tired.

"No, that's alright, you're tired. Go get some sleep." He whispered to her as he leaned in and kissed her on her beautifully large forehead, making her blush.

"I'm…not too tired…" She stammered a bit. But she was lifted up instantly by strong arms and carried to her bed where those same strong arms tucked her into bed as she fell asleep almost instantly, muttering a 'good night Kakashi'. He stood there for a while, watching her sleep and then jumped out of her window and back to his apartment.

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	8. Day Zero 8

**I had a good spurt of energy last night, so I wrote chapter 8. Enjoy!**

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Day Zero

The following day was somewhat the aftermath of a poorly done date. If word reaches Kakashi's ears that Sakura is in one side of the town, he would be found at the opposite side for no particular reason, but his legs seemed to have carried him there quicker than usual; the same could be applied to Sakura. It was obvious that the two were avoiding each other, and it was not long until the village's number one gossiper got to work.

"So…did you guys kiss? Was he handsome? Was he sloppy?" Ino's question firing rate was exceeding one of a 'machine gun', and it amazed Sakura just how long Ino can fire questions before she need to take a breath.

"Ino, it's not what you think. We are just friends, partners, teammates." She defended when the questions have slowed down.

"What did you guys do?" That question had a good thick layer of innocent icing on top.

"Like I said, we just went to the party together and he asked me to dance and that's all."

"I saw you guys on the dance floor! Not to mention, he walked you home!"

"So? Shikamaru walked you home too."

"That's because we're going out." That earned some silence. Sakura wasn't so sure if her defense was coming up as good as she thought it would.

"Well, I can't care less." She stated as she 'hmph-ed'.

"So, he was a bad kisser afterall, and he isn't that hot?" Ino moved just in time to avoid the incoming chakra punch aimed right for her head.

"For the last time, we did not kiss!"

"Yeah right, keep saying that…I saw what you guys _did_ at your doorstep." She teased and ducked as a fist came flying towards her again.

On the other side of town beneath a tree, a silver haired man can be seen flipping through the pages of his book. From afar, he may look as if he is reading, but if one looked closely, one would realise that he was actually not reading. In fact, Kakashi was so absorbed in his thoughts that he failed to notice the enthusiastic man in a green jumpsuit approaching him.

"My eternal rival Kakashi, you have bloomed and have found a beautiful cherry blossom. You have beaten me once again, but I shall not be defeated…I shall find a beautiful – "

"I'm not going out with anyone."

"But everyone saw you two last night!"

"Doesn't mean anything to me." As soon as he said that, he immediately regretted it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flurry of pink disappear quite quickly into the bushes. While Gai was crying out something about his 'springtime of youth', Kakashi ran off in pursuit of the flurry of pink.

He chased after the shadow until it stopped in an opening. He crouched beneath the bushes and hid himself well, observing the pastel haired girl standing in the opening, head down, hands clenched into fists. He sighed silently as he quietly moved slightly to get a better view.

"I know you're there, Kakashi-sensei." She was a jonin afterall, concealing oneself beneath a bush was trivial for her.

"Ah, you've gotten quite sharp nowadays." He emerged from the bush rubbing the back of his head; a lazy tone escaped his lips.

"Quit it. I was going to talk to you but nevermind. You can stop _stalking_ me now."

"Sakura, wait. If you don't want to talk to me, at least let me talk to you or hear me out." To that she turned her head as a sign of annoyance and sat down on the soft grass, motioning for him to sit down beside her.

"What are we doing?" She asked in a soft tone.

"We are currently sitting on grass talking." He stated the obvious, earning a slap on his arm.

"Nevermind. You're hopeless, Kakashi-sensei."

"Hey, I told you to stop calling me sensei. We are partners, remember?" He placed his hand on her head.

"What are you doing Kakashi."

"What, you're upset, I'm making you happy again." His eye curled up reassuringly.

"See what I mean by hopeless? You're oblivious."

"To what?"

"I have been bombarded with questions from Ino since this morning about _us_ from last night. What have we done?"

"Well, I…I'm sorry Sakura, I should've thought about what would happen before doing such things. You are a great friend and a great partner, I don't want to lose you too, so please understand and forgive me."

"Am I just a friend or a partner to you?" She asked innocently, knowing fully what the answer would be. She wouldn't ask for a different answer, but somehow she liked the fact that she is the only woman that Kakashi would openly 'associate' with and how he would pull her to his side whenever someone asks her something along the lines of a date; it seemed that he was possessive, but she liked it.

"Of course. Am I just a friend or a partner to you?" He didn't know when or how, but he felt that his answer was almost a lie. Sakura is his partner and friend, but she means so much more to him. He liked how she would make up some 'valid excuse' to go somewhere with him whenever someone asked her to go on a date with them and that she would take time off from her very busy schedule just to spend time with him.

"Of…course. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Oh, nothing. I thought that you thought otherwise. And if Ino gives you more trouble, send her my way. I'll make sure that she'll never question you about me." He winked as he helped her up and walked her back home.

That evening, as the two jonins sat in their own living rooms reading their books, their friends gathered in a bar for an 'urgent' meeting. There was a clear split in opinion.

"There is no way Sakura likes Kakashi. That's just wrong. He's too old!" Ino exclaimed, as the best 'matchmaker' in town, she should know best.

"There's no way that Kakashi would fall for her. He's too good looking." Genma defended his friend.

"No way. I thought I was defeated by Kakashi's blooming youth. Yosh! I have a chance!" Clearly some people were missing the point in the conversation.

"Did I miss something while I was gone?" A new voice joined in.

"You did. You missed a lot, Asuma-sensei. You see, the shinobi party, Kakashi went with Sakura and they were dancing so intimately on the dance floor. And that's not it. He walked her home and he kissed her! I saw how he kissed her on that big forehead of hers and then how he carried her to bed and kissed her on the forehead again! It's crazy! There's no way that Sakura likes him and yet he just went for it. She won't even tell me the details today!" Ino screamed out everything as Asuma pulled a chair from the nearby table to join in.

"Hmm...I see, so that's what's been happening while I was gone." He looked thoughtful for a moment. Everyone focused on him as they expect him to spew out some brilliant plan to solve the 'crisis'. After a while, looked up from his serious look.

"What do you think, sensei?" Ino was itching to find out just what her best friend has been up to.

"I think we should just let them be. They'll do something about it soon enough. How long have I been gone? Over a week? Geez, that Kakashi."

A few hours after bickering about just what the two jonins have been up to, the gossipers left the bar. About the same time, the two jonins who have been reading up until now put down their books as they walked towards their front door, towards a familiar place.

Down the moonlit streets of Konoha, Sakura let the light breeze play with her hair. She walked slowly towards the place where she has been spending more time at than usual for the past week. As she walked down the street, she saw a dark figure coming her way. She paid no notice to the dark figure and walked on with her head down. Seconds later, she collided with something, or rather someone.

"Watch where you're going." She wasn't in the mood to be bumped into.

"Is something the matter?" A smooth lazy voice filled the air.

"Kakashi…I…er…nothing's wrong, I just wanted some fresh air."

"Oh, me too. Care to join?"

"Sure, I can do with some company."

When they reached a stream, the sat down nearby and watched the water flow.

"It seems that our friends are thinking something very strange from last night. If this is causing you trouble, I apologise. I merely thought that being your date, I should at least act like one."

"I'm sorry Kakashi. But you didn't have to act as a date, you should've enjoyed yourself instead of making me feel good." She felt so selfish having made him gone through so much trouble.

"That's fine. In fact, I enjoyed myself last night. Just that now our friends seem to think that we're…well…together."

"Well…are we?" That was the exact question the two were avoiding all day long.

"Sakura…I…I don't really know the answer." He had a rather serious tone on, but was disappointed when a small yawn followed his reply, followed by some weight resting on his side. He cradled her and leapt to the direction of her apartment, where he figured that he would be too lazy to walk back to his own apartment and stayed the night on her couch.  


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**Oh yea, remember to send me a review! Thanks for reading!**


	9. Day Zero 9

**My my...I'm feeling not so lazy lately...chapter 9 up and running, enjoy!**

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Day Zero

With Asuma back in the village, Kakashi found more ways to excuse himself the whole 'couple' incident. He assumed that Asuma must have heard about the newest gossip but was sure that his friend would dismiss it quite quickly.

"I didn't know you had a think for Sakura." Asuma went straight to the point when Kakashi approached.

"You of all people should know that the gossip is merely just a gossip." Kakashi regretted approaching.

"Then spill!"

"I just went with her to the party as a 'date' since she wanted to go with someone."

"And then?"

"And then I walked her home because that's what a gentleman does." Although his nose was buried deep inside the novel in his hand, he was not reading at all, but was hoping that Asuma would say something smart and reassuring.

"And does a gentleman kisses little girls to sleep?" Asuma was striking for jackpot.

"What? Sakura's not little…and who told you that!" He never thought someone would know so much detail about what happened.

"A little piglet. So what are you going to do now? Are you guys going out? I heard that you guys have been spending a lot of time together too…reading this." He spoke as he snatched the novel away from his friend.

"We're not going out. We're friends and partners…we agreed on that. We spend time together because we like to."

"Well, since we've cleared that point, I guess I can tell Genma that he can ask Sakura to go on a date with him. Don't you think that they'll make a great couple?"

"I don't care." They have reached the anticlimax of the conversation as Kakashi began to walk off.

Elsewhere in Konoha, pink hair hidden behind an orange novel could be seen wandering down busy streets. As she muttered out well-crafted conversations from the pages, she couldn't help but notice that she was receiving weird glances from civilians and others alike. She knew that the whole 'couple' incident must have spread through the entire village overnight, but didn't expect it to be this much of a buzz. Hushes and whispers could be heard as others disapproved of their 'realationship'. She felt angry how others judged them and how everyone else just thoughtlessly poked their noses into other people's private life.

"You know Sakura, Junko has been saying that same line for the past ten minutes. Turn the page." A familiar voice appeared behind her.

"Kakashi, what are you doing?"

"Reading over your shoulder." He replied as the two made off towards their usual reading grounds.

"Hey hey! Sakura-chan! I heard that you're…well…you're free today. Want to go somewhere nice?" A third voice joined them – Genma.

"Hi Genma. Yes I'm free today." Kakashi's face darkened when his partner responded. Surely Asuma was not serious about what he said.

"So…want to go to some place nice?" Genma ignored Kakashi's darkened face behind Sakura and pushed his luck a bit more.

"Hmm, what do you think, Kakashi?" To Kakashi's surprise, Sakura turned around and stared at him innocently.

"What do I think? I don't know. You should do what you want. I should go buy tonight's dinner, ja!" He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when Sakura didn't punch Genma to infinity when he asked her to 'go to some place nice'. He wanted to be the only person that she would 'go to some place nice' with. He was only round the corner when he decided he should listen to what Sakura would say.

"Well…I…uh…" She mumbled, a bit lost for words now that the man who would normally be there to give her some form of excuse was gone.

"Don't tell me. You're really going out with Kakashi and the rumours are true!" Genma's face exploded as he screamed out loud.

"That's…that's not true…we're not. It's just a rumour. Heheh…" She giggled nervously. She didn't what to say against the 'rumours'. She didn't want to make Kakashi to hate her if she did say that the rumours are true, but she didn't want to go around with someone else other than Kakashi, especially if it's going to 'some place nice'.

"Well then, I'll come pick you up at six and then we can go for dinner." Genma failed to notice the nervousness in her laughter.

"Actually, I bought tonight's dinner already. Kakashi and I are having a pot luck. Bye!" She sped off in the vague direction of Kakashi's apartment and once Genma was out of sight, she stopped. She did not know why out of all kinds of perfectly good and valid excuse she could have used, she chose to use one with Kakashi in it.

Kakashi watched as she ran off after talking about some pot luck. He decided he should go back to his apartment. He saw Sakura ahead of him, running towards his apartment and sped up.

"Where are you running off to?" He asked when he caught up with her.

"Well…Nowhere in particular." She lied, it was obvious that she want to spend the rest of the day doing nothing beside one particular jonin with silver hair, a handsome quarter of a face and a mysterious three quarters of a face.

"Why don't you come up for some tea." He offered and she immediately took up the offer.

As he led her into his apartment, he felt that he was being hit in the face by reality. Asuma's words repeated in his mind. 'Just friends and partner?' swam around. He hated to admit it, but she was more than just a friend or a partner to him. To him, she was the person who made him feel that the world is not so depressing and that every moment is worth living for, just to be right next to her. He wasn't sure if she felt the same, after assessing their massive age difference. Sasuke was right, he is old enough to probably be her children's grandfather.

After some reading and tea, Sakura said something about going home and making dinner. When she left, he felt as if his house was all empty again, like all the life has disappeared from his little apartment. He didn't want to force her to stay, so he let her go. When Sakura left his apartment, she knew exactly where she was headed.

Sasuke was just about to settle down for a nice hot cup of pot ramen when he saw a small dark figure slip through his window out of the corner of his eye. He felt mildly annoyed that someone dared to interrupt him and his pot of ramen.

"Naruto, get your own ra–" Before he could finish his sentence, he realised his big mistake.

"Sasuke, you're free right now right?" His female teammate breathed out desperately.

"Well, I was just about to eat my ramen." He eyed his ramen and poked at it with his chopsticks before slurping it all up, while Sakura watched patiently. As soon as he put down his chopsticks, Sakura opened her mouth to speak.

"Do you think Kakashi likes me?" She asked out of nowhere.

"Hm? Like you? You guys hang out all the time. If he doesn't like you, he wouldn't be hanging out with you."

"No, not that way, as in…you know." She blushed as she spoke.

"I know what you mean, I was just teasing." He spoke calmly. "I think you should just go talk to him. I'm fairly sure he does."

With that, Sakura leapt up and said her thanks before jumping out of his window towards her partner's apartment. She stopped at the doorstep and dusted herself off and knocked softly on the door. The man who greeted the door looked at her with his mismatched solemn eyes. He seemed slightly out of breath.

"I heard you and Sasuke." This was no time for beating around the bush. Sakura remained silent while he spoke. "I don't know how to put this, Sakura, but we can't really be together that way. You see, I'm too old for you and there are plenty of perfect young boys your age to make you happy. I really enjoy going about with you and would like to continue that way, but we can't go any further than that, please understand."

"I understand." Her voice was coarse and low. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

She turned and walked off to her home, her shadow looming behind her. Kakashi watched as she walked away. He felt a bit guilty, but he felt that it was the right thing to do.

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	10. Day Zero 10

**Chapter 10, up and running. Enjoy!**

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Day Zero

Sakura woke up early next morning and prepared herself for her shift at the hospital. Despite all the amount of time she spent in bed last night, she had managed to get very little sleep. She tossed and turned as Kakashi's words repeated in her mind, his eye smiling at her reassuring her every time she cried, his arms wrapped around her waist when they danced, his soft masked lips gently pressed against her forehead as he kissed her goodnight.

Somewhere close by, a silver haired jonin could be easily mistaken as a zombie. His single visible eye was half closed a dark ring hung below it, his usually visible quarter of his face was unusually pale. Despite all his efforts, he spent the night tossing and turning in his bed. The image of her crying burnt itself in his mind, haunting him. Putting on his usual uniform, he decided to take a walk to clear his mind.

That afternoon, Genma, who have yet to catch onto what has been happening, decided try his luck again. He wandered towards Konoha Hospital in search for a certain pink haired medic. He approached her desk and place a bunch of roses in her vase.

"So, free tonight?" The master of pickup lines started.

"I could be. But now that you've asked, I'm not." Smooth talking was one of the attributes that she picked up from all the years of training and learning under Hatake Kakashi.

"So I've booked you up eh?" Luck was probably on his side.

"Actually I've booked her up." A low voice came from behind Genma. "How 'bout lunch for starters?"

"Fine by me. I'll just finish off the paper work here. Won't take more than two minutes." Sakura was glad that _he_ showed up to keep Genma at bay.

Two minutes later, Sakura rose from her desk and stood beside Kakashi.

"Dango?"

"Hn." With that said, the two made off to the dango restaurant and sat at their usual table.

"Sakura, you're still upset."

"No, I'm not. Why were you at the hospital anyway?"

"I was in the area."

"Liar! You never go to the hospital even if you're in the area or half dead."

"Well, talk about lying. You're still upset." He repeated himself slightly clearer. He watched as a lone tear trickled down her porcelain cheek and before he could stop himself, his hand automatically shot forward and cupped her cheek, his thumb gently wiping away that lone tear.

"I'm full." She stiffened up as she slammed down the money onto the table and ran out of the store as more tears streamed down her face. She ran as fast as she could in some vague direction and was suddenly stopped by someone pulling on her wrist from behind. She froze on the spot as she realised who stopped her. Her friend approached her tentatively afraid that he will scare her away but she remained rooted on the spot. He stopped right behind her and wrapped his arms around her fragile body, pulling her towards him. He didn't care what passersby would think as they stood in the forest, enveloped by silence, only her sharp breathing could be heard.

"Kakashi." She finally managed to breathe out, leaning back onto his chest.

"I can't let anyone else have you, I have realised that." He spoke as he leant down and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

The two stood in the quiet woods, not caring for the amount of time that passed by between them.

"So we're a secret?" She whispered after some time.

"Yes, I suppose so." He whispered back as he released her from his hold and kissed her.

"Kakashi…why do you hide yourface?" She remembered the time when team 7 went through the trouble to find out what was behind his mask only to find that there was another mask beneath. Kakashi lifted her hand and placed it onto his forehead protector covering his left eye, while his other eye creased up encouraging her to lift his forehead protector upwards. When the forehead protector slipped off his head, gripped tightly in Sakura's hand as she stared at the top half of his face in amazement.

"We'll never get to the bottom half if the top half amazes you so much." He teased as he placed her hand onto his cheek. With the tip of her fingers tucked beneath the mask, she slowly peeled it off to slowly reveal the bottom half of his face, gasping as the mystery was revealed. Sakura blushed deeply after finally seeing her sensei's face.

"Am I really that handsome?" He teased her again as he closed in resting his forehead on hers, his unmasked lips felt smooth on hers.

When they left the forest, they checked for signs of anyone following or nearby as they headed towards Kakashi's apartment for some dinner followed by some light reading on the couch. Kakashi's left eye scanned the page before him, occasionally nudging Sakura to tell her to turn the page, earning a small groan and a nudge back to tell him that she wasn't finished with the page. They felt at peace how they have found each other in the dark and brought light to each other. As reading became an increasingly tiring task, Sakura declared that she was going home and was about to walk out of his apartment when he stopped her in her tracks by pulling on her wrist and carried her into his room, gently lowering her onto his bed.

"Stay." He pleaded. He didn't get much sleep last night and was quite sure that he would sleep much better now that he have confessed his sins to her.

"I…alright." She was too tired to say no.

"Plus, you're not going away without giving me a kiss." He leaned in receiving a small kiss. He closed the curtains to his window, making sure that the window was actually locked for once and laid down beside Sakura. The two slept soundly for the rest of the night in each other's arms.

By morning, Kakashi was woken up by the loud banging on his door. Lazily, he made his way to his door and creaked it open to find a rather out of breath Asuma.

"Ino went to find Sakura since the people at the hospital said that she left after her morning shift was over and haven't seen her since and couldn't find her at her apartment. She got worried so she sent me to see if you've seen her." As he spoke, his eyes darted around Kakashi's apartment, partially blocked by Kakashi's body.

"Well, I saw her, but she's not here. I'm not sure where she went either, good luck!" Just as he was about to close the door, Asuma charged past him.

"Liar! These are her shoes!" Kakashi swore to himself for not hiding her shoes before he opened his door and went after his bearded friend, who was heading straight for his bedroom.

"You know better than running into my pigsty." He spoke softly as Asuma reached the bedroom door; he was unstoppable.

"Kakashi, you…you…and Sakura. I thought you said that you guys weren't going out!" Asuma exclaimed.

"Well, you see…Sakura was over here and she was rather tired so I let her sleep in my bed for the night."

"Yeah right. This is big news, Kakashi, big news! I must tell Kurenai!" He squealed as he ran out of the apartment, waking up the sleepy Sakura.

After some reassurance and persuasion, Kakashi finally managed to get Sakura to get out of the apartment for some fresh air with him. They admit that today's weather was too good to be indoors and it would be a waste not to go out. As the walked down the street, stares and glances were cast on them. In the dango shop, Asuma and Kurenai spotted the couple and waved them over to their table, who accepted the invitation.

"So…Kakashi. Explain." Asuma put on one of his sternest faces and his most serious tone, only to earn a playful slap on the arm from Kurenai.

"What is there to explain?" His arm subtly snaked around Sakura's waist.

"Ten days, Kakashi, ten days." Asuma shook his head faking disapproval. "How many days did it take you?"

"Days? I've barely started. It has always been day zero." Kakashi blurted out before he could control himself, causing Sakura to blush.

"Day zero?" Kurenai joined in, confused.

"Yeah, that's right. I taught this guy that if in ten days you still can't do it, you don't like her enough. But if in ten days she hasn't ignored or rejected you, she likes you. Just that he's just as hopeless as before even after everything I've taught him. Just kiss her in public already, Kakashi, before Genma or other guys want to press their luck."

Kakashi's eye twitched slightly as Asuma lectured him on being affectionate in public, but soon he just could not take the non-stop tips and advice. Ignoring Asuma, he turned to Sakura, who nodded slightly to reassure him. In a swift motion, he tipped her head up slightly and place his masked lips on hers, a pure display of affection in broad day light. When they broke the kiss to catch their breath, taking note that Asuma and Kurenai were both shocked and speechless, they laughed at the couple before them bid them a good day.

"There is no way I would let you see the rest of my face." Kakashi teased his friend as he left the table with a giggling Sakura.

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**Well, this is the end of the longwinded story that started when I got bored in the break during lectures. I hope you enjoyed it and do feel very free to write me a review!**


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